Our organization is taking part in a survey where all the "leaders" rate each other on leadership abilities/activities. Two of the questions are very interesting:

1) What 3 leadership adjectives best describe this person's leadership?

2) What 3 words best describe this person's affect on you.

Of course, I loved that part of the survey! I first went to Tsuwm's worthless word of the day site to find some really obscure adjectives and words...but then thought I'd better take it a bit more seriously.

However, even in all seriousness, it has been fun. So, I thought wordcrafters would find it interesting to think about. What 3 adjectives best describe your leadership or that of other leaders you know? Likewise, what 3 words best describe a leader's affect on you?

[Besides, you might help me to come up with some great adjectives to use, as I am still doing this. Shu came up with ultracrepidarian, which is a great word for one of my colleagues...though perhaps a bit too obscure.]

Thanks for giving me the credit, honey, but the credit properly belongs to you.

From the Wordcraft dictionary:

ultra-crepidarian – giving opinions on topics beyond one's knowledge. From Latin "beyond the sole".After the tale of shoemaker who criticized the way an artist had drawn part of a sandal. When the artist then corrected the error, the emboldened shoemaker went on to disparage how the legs were painted. To which the artist snapped "Ne supra crepidam judicaret," or "Let him not criticize above the sole." (crepida = sole or sandal) In other words, the cobbler was qualified to judge footwear but only footwear. In effect, the word means, "Shoemaker, stick to thy last."

In looking on Google for a list of adjectives on leadership (those lists are all positive words), I found this nice list which not only helped me out with some words, but had the German equivalents as well.

Originally posted by Kalleh:In looking on Google for a list of adjectives on leadership (those lists are all positive words)…

Having just had a harrowing month at a bureaucracy-ridden hospital, visiting a very sick relative, and making wholly unrewarding enquiries from the LEADERS, try these abbreviated sketches:

One who delegates everything to his/her team rather than accepting responsibility;One who does not critically examine the problem (case) him/her-self but is going to review the issuesOne who is never worried or anxious about the problems in hand, but euphemistically has concerns.

I sorry about your experience, Pearce, and I want you to know that the same types of situations happen here, as well. All of your descriptors seem to relate to those in charge not being accountable, and that is precisely what happens in a bureaucracy. In the U.S., where over 98,000 people die per year of medical errors and where merely being in the hospital is the 4th leading cause of death (I heard that latter statistic at a conference, but haven't been able to verify it), we are more and more worried about system errors. Mind you, I do believe that system errors are a major problem and we must work to improve the system. However, there are individual errors, as well. Let me give you an example of an individual error that really happened:

A newly graduated nurse walked into a patient room, and an x-ray technician handed her a styrofoam glass with liquid and a spoon in it. The technician said, "the patient has to take this before her x-ray today." The new nurse, without checking the orders, walks into the medication room, pulls the liquid from an open styrofoam glass (obviously unsterile) into a 50 cc syringe, and goes to the patient's room and injects the liquid into her intravenous tubing. Since the liquid was obviously meant to be drunk, the patient dies quickly. The nurses excuse? "I learned in school that LPNs give oral medications, and RNs (which she was) give intravenous medications." Duh!

My suggestion to anyone with a sick friend or relative who is in the hospital? Spend every moment at the patient's bedside and question everything that's done.